


The Loan

by furyspook



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-04
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 06:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/671282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furyspook/pseuds/furyspook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vriska Serket used to be in the black market business with her long-time partner and best friend Terezi Pyrope, but after an ill-willed business procedure goes awry and Terezi is blinded, Vriska moves on to greener pastures, with the help of Gamzee Makara. He'd been in the business long enough to know how everything worked, and could give a tug to all the strings with things still in his favor. They hit it off after just their first transaction. </p><p>John Egbert can't pay his bills. His father is ill, and out of a job. John is likewise unemployed, and how the hell is he supposed to keep himself and Dad fed, when he can't even keep the landlord's letters out of their mailbox? Let alone get his father into a hospital. </p><p>Vriska, being <i>oh-so</i> generous as she was known to be, slips John just enough to get all his affairs in order, and lets him know there will be repercussions if he doesn't pay her back on time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Loan

Vriska Serket, John remembers reading the name somewhere. However, he can't remember where it was he did so, nor could he find it in himself to care, as he was. There she stood, her dark brown hair cascading over her shoulder, her good eye watching him behind a broken glasses lens. She held a very, _very_ tempting wad of cash in her palm, outstretched in his direction. John's eyes darted up from her hand, that incredibly important folded green, and back to her face. Her smile seemed gentle, kind, as if she truly wanted to help him get his life back. Her eyes, though, told another story. Her eyes were laughing maliciously, and he might have thought her glaring. John watched her juggle the money up and down, from palm to palm, always just within his reach. She didn't take her eyes off of him. This, in retrospect, is when John should have turned tail and fled, but she looked, sounded so convincing. His father would have his head later, but John thought that he could wait until he could get out of bed again to do that. With that thought, John caught Vriska's eye again, and gave a short nod.

" _There's_ a good boy." Vriska pulled her arm back when John went to reach for it. "Now, now, we have some things to discuss first. Like your return date." She wiggled a finger in his direction, eight times exactly. "That should be... What do _you_ think? Four months?" John blinked and shook his head, trying to calculate how long it would actually take to get back this kind of money, but she caught his chin in her free hand, the one that was cold to the touch and clinked and clanked as she moved, and continued, "No, love, four is perfect. I can get you a job, easy money, you'll have this back in my hand before you know it." 

She released him and turned away, rolling the money in her fingers, listening to the crinkling noise it made. "Now when it comes to interest, that could be a toughie."

"How about a dollar a week?" John asked, aware she would probably deny him this. Her sharp bark of laughter still startled him, though. 

"Oh, _hell no_!" She spun back around as quickly as John could blink, and we leaning over him with a manic look in her eye. "Do you think I keep my lifestyle intact on a dollar a week, John? I repeat, _'hell no'_!" John leaned back, audibly gulping. She shook her head, her hair flying about in all directions, giving her a deranged look, one that she may or may not have had the whole time. "Dear, dear me, John! That just won't do!"

"Sorry, I just thought that since I'm in a bad financial situation right now-"

"That's your problem, John, you're thinking too much. You don't think, you just let mamma Vriska get everything sorted, okay?" She cupped his cheek, pulling her hand away with a gentle smack. Her eyes switched from angry to contemplative in a second, and she mumbled something to herself about profit exceeding sales lately. John looked over his shoulder, to safety and the entrance of the alley. "Eight dollars a week!" She exclaimed, spinning his face around to hers again. He took a moment to assess how close they actually were, before pushing her arms back just a little further. John's eyes widened. 

" _Eight_ dollars a week, for _four months_?" He almost shouted. John was almost certain that he wouldn't be able to get all of that money back, plus eight interest a week on time. 

"John, honey, please. You're over-reacting, just a pinch. I told you, I have a way for you to get all this money back to me. If you can't get it to me when the four months are up, I'll just have to get you a job!" Vriska grinned devilishly, and popped the money into his hand before wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in to his ear. "And when you get the job, I'll get to see you _every day_." 

She pulled back abruptly, and turned John around with her hands still on his shoulders. She gave him a swift pat on the back and sent him off on his way again, waving at his back. Her arm creaked and groaned, and she sighed heavily. "See you around!" John nodded, not looking back, opting instead to run back into the street. 

Once John had turned the corner, Vriska leaned back against the wall and awaited the honking escort of her partner.


	2. Attempted Return

John's father had, as he'd thought, chewed his head off when he came home. Not just for borrowing money (money they couldn't pay back on time), but for borrowing money from an illegal band of vagabonds. While John was generally sheltered from the darker workings of the city, his father knew more about it than he probably wanted to. Gamzee Makara and his band of thieves were, while shrouded in secrecy, the most well-known band on the Eastern seaboard. The problem wasn't that nobody ever saw them, in fact you could catch any number of them wandering the streets at any time of day. Sometimes several members at a time will take to the parks and perform strange and insane acts for the spare change in children's pockets. No, the problem was that no police department or private investigator could get close enough to the group before they hauled their asses out of there. Since they'd never been caught they could never be stopped.

Vriska Serket, his partner in crime and John's newest business partner, had always been the easier to spot. Not only did she have a more peculiar, but her methods were flashy and violent. While the man in charge didn't seem to mind, she brought the most trouble to them, and their business. Vriska was responsible for most of the police baiting, after they learned of her existence in the city's underworld from her ex-partner, Terezi Pyrope. Terezi, since steered back in the right direction, was blinded during a bad deal, Vriska getting off with only a bad word against her and loss of a client. Terezi had since been moved into police custody and protection. It seems that she has a knack for law, and somehow convinced her company to let her work in defense of the wronged. She only took cases she knew she could win, hadn't been involved with the business of Makara or Serket since. 

John didn't know the half of it, only understood that he needed the money, and that this Vriska Serket could give it to him. He'd taken it, but now he was sure he'd made the wrong decision. 

No matter what kind of decision he'd made, he was about to make another. 

"I'm not going to take it back." John stated plainly, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. He wasn't looking forward to opening them again and seeing the disappointed look his father was probably shooting him. They were mostly angry, but they helf that not-so-subtle disappointment all the same. 

"Why the hell not?"

"Because we need the money, Dad, and the bank won't give us another loan until we pay off the last one!" John hadn't been able to find a job, no matter how hard he'd actually looked, and therefore was bringing nothing useful into the house. Their pantry was running short, and their mailbox was piling up. There wasn't going to be a _house_ if he didn't figure something out- sooner rather than later. John had jumped the shark with this, he had thought. They'd find a way to pay the money back once they were out of their current situation. "Come _on_ , Dad! Now that we have it, we can admit you without any problems!"

"I said _no_ , Johnathan, and I _meant_ it." When John opened his eyes again, Mr. Egbert held him under the stone-ass gaze of judgement and guilt-bringing. 

"You can't live off of over-the-counter drugs forever, especially if we can't afford them!" John pressed, trying to keep himself from shouting. Because that would help his position _so much_. 

"Take it back, John. And get a job."

"I am _trying_! Do you know how hard it is to get a job in a city where a _majority_ of people are unemployed? I've been running newspaper routes for weeks and that isn't enough anymore!" John had been hunting for a job since before his father was laid off, which was quite a while ago. Savings? _What_ savings? They only made enough for the both of them to get by on all fours anyway! 

"Take it back, John!" His father shouted, having had just about enough of his 'excuses', because of course that's what they were. 

John stood abruptly from the chair by the bed and turned around to leave, aware that while his father said no more he was still staring after him. He shut the door behind him when he left, and made sure to do the same when he left the apartment. 

-.-.-

"I heard," Gamzee leaned over Vriska's shoulder, and she laughed when his fingers trailed up her back, "That you up and got us another one today."

She grinned and spun 'round to face him, looking him over for any damage that may have come to him while he was out. "I _did_! Name's Egbert, and he is in the _worst_ financial situation!" He lifted her off the ground by the waist, swaying to and fro as she recounted the tale. He seemed to brighten up when she mentioned how he would 'surely never be able to pay that much money back' in the time she'd given. When he placed her back on the ground, she found him smiling down at her brighter than he'd been a minute before.

"Are you saying we'll get him?" He asked, grabbing both of her hands in his own. He'd always been particularly fascinated in her metal hand, taking time out of his day to examine the bolts or to bend the joints. He did so now, and Vriska wriggled her fingers to return his full attention to her words. She didn't want him zoning out. 

"I'm eighty-eight percent sure. And you know that there are only eighty-eight percents to take that out of." She shook her head to move the hair from her face, and Gamzee's eyes widened. He nodded, and she nodded in return. 

"I could kiss you, Vris." 

"Then why don't you?" She batted her eyelashes and pouted, more for exaggeration than anything else. 

"Oh, no, I couldn't be all doing that! Ain't it against some kind of law to be kissing an employee?" 

"You _know_ , I think it is." 

And so Gamzee leaned in and kissed her, and she returned the gesture. A moment later, though, there was a shout from the street. 

"Vriska!"

Vriska pulled away and a smirk replaced her look of surprise. "Well, well, well. Gamzee, you might actually get to meet him." She squeezed his shoulder and turned in time to see none other than John Egbert running towards them. He stopped, however, when he caught that his acquaintance wasn't alone. She knew why, too. Makara wasn't exactly one for traditional dressing. " _Hey_ there, John!" She waved briefly and stepped away from Gamzee, who looked more than a little displeased. 

John seemed reluctant to walk forward, and Vriska waved him closer with a kind smile that didn't quite make it to her eyes. 

"Well, what are you doing back here so soon?" 

John ran a hand down his face and pulled Vriska's generous wad of cash out of his back pocket. He held it out to her, and massaged his forehead with his forefinger and thumb. "I... Can't keep this. I'm sorry, but you'll need to take this back." He looked up, startled when both members of the other party started to laugh. He blinked, wondering if they thought that he was kidding. 

"Okay, John, maybe I wasn't a hundred percent clear when I spoke to you earlier," Vriska pulled him closer and slung her metal arm up over his shoulder. "You can't just give the money back! Silly!" 

"Well it's not like I used any of it-"

"Honey," She caressed the side of his face with her free hand, exaggerating a pout and large 'puppy dog' eyes. "Baby, that's not a factor here! The point is that once the money is in your hands, we can't take it back." His jaw dropped open and he shook his head vigorously. " _Yes._ " She forced him to nod.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" He asked, voice getting higher. 

"Because, we tend to lose clients that way, dear." She gave his cheek a final pat and pushed his hand to his chest, money folded in his fingers. "Now, just run along and get busy! We'd hate to run over on our time, _wouldn't we_?" John took a couple of cautious steps back, and she ushered him along with a wave of her hand. He looked as if he was about to argue again, but she silenced him with a frown. She was scary when she grinned, but when she frowned you knew that she meant business. John turned slowly and walked back out to the street, throwing glances over his shoulders.

"I can't _imagine_ why I keep forgetting to tell them that!" Vriska gestured to her left, Gamzee stepping closer until her back was against his chest. 

He rested his chin on the top of her head, and muttered, "It's because you just love getting looks at those boys." 

" _Aw_ ," She held his wrists in her hands and leaned back until he was wholly supporting her body. "You caught me. I just love their perfectly kissable faces." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yawns because it's two in the morning

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be working on this as I work on Striderman, so it may take longer for me to get out new chapters. That story is my priority right now, as I got our protagonist into a bit of a pickle. 
> 
> Anyway, this is going to be a sort of break-fic, for when I'm particularly bored, but I have every intention of finishing it eventually.


End file.
